BBC Africa is reporting that former South African President Nelson Mandela has been hospitalized for a recurring lung infection. The office of the presidency says that Mandela is “responding positively” to treatment. The health of the former President has been a concern for some time, with an 18-day hospitalization occurring in December and two others before that in the past two years. Current President Jacob Zuma has called for prayer for Mr. Mandela from around the world.
BBC Africa writes:
He first contracted tuberculosis in the 1980s while detained on the windswept Robben Island where he served 18 of the 27 years he was imprisoned for sabotage.
His lungs are said to have been damaged when he worked in a prison quarry.
…
His main home is in Qunu, a small rural village in Eastern Cape province, where he says he spent the happiest days of his childhood.
However, doctors said in December he should remain at his home in the Johannesburg neighbourhood of Houghton to be close to medical facilities.
Read more at BBC Africa and Mail & Guardian.
This news brief was written by Kaitlin Higgins.
